The Sixth Tool:

A Pro Baseball Scout's rolling commentary that takes you on the road from city to city in a high stakes search for talent that will one day make it to the Big Show.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Hit and Run

Then came the announcement from DeSear. “Logan and I have decided to create a new position. Ah, well it’s really not new, I guess. We’re just bringing it back as a pilot program to see if we can’t jump start things. We’ve decided to bring back the regional scout position.”

The room filled with several grumbles. The type that say here we go again. I looked over at Toby Bradford who used to be the regional scout in charge of my area before they did away with the job. He seemed just as clueless as me.

“We’ll start out with just one. The first regional scout will be in charge of all area scouts in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. . . ”Why wasn’t Toby standing to approach the podium? I was glad that they finally came to their senses and brought Toby back to lead us. I was really getting tired of having to report directly to DeSear. Maybe I could finally get a handle on things with him back in charge. Pawn off Georgia onto someone else and just focus on Florida like old-times.

“Congratulations Goldberg,” DeSear said as he began to applaud.

Goldie! For crying out loud, he’s just a bird dog. He’s never even been an area scout. Granted, he had some playing time in the minors, but that doesn’t mean spit. This region is arguably the most talented region in the nation and they put him in charge of it? You mean to tell me that Goldie is my new boss? Bradford’s too?

The rest of the room was slow to applaud but out of respect for DeSear, I guess everyone felt obligated to follow suit. Even Bradford. Not me though. I don’t make it a habit to clap for joy after I’ve been slapped in the face.

Goldie wheeled himself over to the side of the podium to shake DeSear’s hand. The two smiled and DeSear patted him on the shoulder. “This change is effective immediately,” Desear continued, “Goldberg will report directly to Logan until further notice.”

This was incredibly worse than I could’ve ever imagined. Even DeSear was getting stabbed in the back. A direct report to Logan? That meant DeSear just lost control over seven states. Some of the most fertile states in the draft. Kiss them goodbye. Forget the token title of Regional Scout. Logan just made Goldie a co-Director of Scouting.

About Me

You shall know me as Maxwell "Cutter" Jones. Others in the profession, however, know me by another name. You won't be getting their real names either. Same goes for the coaches and prospects. All their names have been changed. And no, I'm not telling you which club I belong to. I've even changed all the names of the schools I visit as well as the cities they belong to. Look, I didn't even want to write this darned blog but lately I've spent one too many impromptu sessions with a sports psychologist who works for the club. He wants me to try this out as a form of therapy. Yeah, whatever. He claims I have some issues I need to get off my chest. I'll let you be the judge of that.